28 August 2010

Texting from my trusty iPhone. When my high speed server gets their issues fixed will post. Do have a lot of posts in draft - will see about getting those posted. Texting sure is the slowest way towrite when you are a 10 fingered typist! :). Everyone have agreat weekend and while you are waiting for new posts how about cruising thru the archives? There is a search box to search this blog. Take a test drive and see how you like it.

26 August 2010

*** Our government has a long way to go to convince Americans it can handle large scale natural or man made disasters.

From Denny: It's no surprise that most of my fellow Americans believe our government is still not ready to properly handle a big disaster. Pushing the nasty politics aside that the Republicans dished out onto the people of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, the largest American disaster ever, that definitely complicated matters - our government still suffers a lack of quality coordination and fast response times.

The truth is that Bush and Cheney had dismantled key components of FEMA and other agencies, preventing them from reacting in a timely fashion and on a large enough scale. President Obama has had so many fires on so many fronts because of how the Republicans have crippled our government from being able to operate that Obama's attention has yet to rest upon restoring key elements of emergency response for inside America.

It's been five years since Hurricane Katrina struck on 29 August 2005 and still this great country has yet to get its act together to handle severe emergencies. America is the only nation on this earth that has the most violent weather. With global warming that weather severity has increased. We are foolish not to address our infrastructure vulnerabilities and government responses.

And it looks like a lot of America agrees that America still isn't ready - even after five years and now an oil spill disaster. This oil spill just highlighted how much our government agencies have to learn and how much Congress needs to get busy reining in and penalizing Big Business for running such shoddy operations that risk the economy and the safety of the American people.

The nonpartisan Pew Research Center poll released today had these results where they surveyed equal numbers of Democrats, Republicans and Independents:

* 57 percent say the country has not improved its disaster preparations

* 38 percent said the country is more ready than it was.

* 69 percent think progress has been made rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf (As a Louisiana blogger I can tell you that we have made great strides).

* People in the South - which includes Gulf Coast states - feel most strongly about it, with 75 percent saying progress has been made. In other regions, a combined 66 percent see progress.

* Only 63 percent of Democrats were convinced than Republicans and Independents, saying reconstruction has moved ahead.

* Pew conducted the poll from Aug. 19-22, interviewing 1,003 randomly chosen adults by telephone, including those on landlines and cell phones. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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23 August 2010

*** Check out the latest jokes from late night comics this week, along with some of the most current cartoons and LOL funniest videos from the likes of Colbert and Stewart.

From Denny: It seems every time you turn on the TV news there is a revolting story about how bed bugs have suddenly multiplied 500 percent, ravaging Americans all across the country. Bed bugs are chomping on people at home, at restaurants, at hotels and second hand furniture stores. That will teach you to do dumpster diving for free furniture.

Of course, those of us who live in the South are experts on pest control compared to our Northern cousins who are downright neophytes. The truth is we cheer our local pest control guys as much as our football teams. It's the key to our success of being bed bug free. Try it sometime. It really works.

Enjoy some of the funniest video clips of late from the crazy minds of Colbert and Stewart.

President Obama was in Hollywood for a star-studded fundraiser. They raised a million dollars and converted him to Scientology.

The president's security left traffic in Los Angeles paralyzed. It took some people two hours to get home from work, when it usually only takes 96 minutes.

I don't understand why the president has to drive. He could just flap his ears and fly anywhere.

After three weeks of jury deliberations, Rod Blagojevich was convicted yesterday on only one of the 24 counts against him. The one count he was convicted for? Transporting illegally silky hair across state lines.

He could get up to five years, though that's very unlikely. He'll probably do somewhere between Lindsay Lohan and Lil Wayne.

Can you imagine Rod Blagojevich in a prison jumpsuit? He'd look like a traffic cone with a Koosh ball on top.

President Obama had a 24-hour vacation on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Some Republicans are attacking him for not staying longer. They have a point. President Bush used to vacation for weeks at a time.

The president was there to promote tourism in the Gulf. He even jumped into the Gulf to prove it was safe. Unfortunately, he did a cannonball right onto a pelican.

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston have reaching a custody agreement. Neither of them is allowed to say anything bad about the other parent or the other parent’s family in front of Tripp. So basically nobody is allowed to speak in front of Tripp.

Everyone is talking about Steven Slater, the flight attendant who cursed at a passenger, grabbed two beers, and slid down the escape slide, in what may be the best resignation ever. In fact he's so good at quitting, they're thinking about making him the next governor of Alaska.

It could be the first time in history that someone has been arrested for going down an inflatable slide.

The Mexican Supreme Court ruled that all Mexican states must recognize same-sex marriages registered in Mexico City. So men can now marry in Mexico, but they still can't honeymoon in Arizona.

From Jay Leno:

According to the Wall Street Journal, there is a growing movement among Democrats to replace Joe Biden as VP with Hillary Clinton in 2012. Do you realize that if that happens, for the first time Hillary will be directly under a president.

Fertility clinics in England say they are facing a nationwide donor shortage and are looking for international sperm donors. Finally a job Levi Johnston is actually qualified for.

According to U.S. and Iraqi commanders, if the U.S. pulls out of Iraq, their borders will be vulnerable and they won't be able to stop anyone from entering their country. Well, join the club.

President Obama may be willing to meet with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. How does that make the governor of Arizona feel? The president won't meet with her, but a four-foot tall Holocaust-denier in a Members Only jacket? No problem.

The White House is defending President Obama's sports activities over the past week, saying that everyone needs leisure time. Thanks to these economic policies, 9.5 percent of Americans have all the leisure time they need.

The economy is so bad, the Obamas are thinking about taking their next vacation in the United States.

If anyone is looking for a job, there's an opening for a flight attendant at JetBlue. … Steven Slater, the famous JetBlue flight attendant, dropped so many F-bombs on that plane that he got a thumbs up from Joe Biden.

Those fallen sports heroes...

From Craig Ferguson:

In 'The Expendables,' Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger beat up Sylvester Stallone for convincing them to invest in Planet Hollywood.

Schwarzenegger was only in the movie for five minutes, but during that five minutes, he achieved more than in all his years as governor.

When Schwarzenegger heard the title 'The Expendables,' he thought it was in reference to California's teachers.

From Jimmy Fallon:

Al-Jazeera's English-speaking channel was nominated for an International Emmy. On the red carpet, Joan Rivers will be like, 'Who are you wearing? And why is it ticking?'

Levi Johnston is running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. The current mayor said Levi Johnston should get his high school diploma and keep his clothes on if he wants to win. And then Levi was like, 'Dude, he just told me how to win. What an idiot.'

*** And for more laughs this week be sure to visit Dennys Funny Quotes:

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*** Comics have endless material ripped from true headlines, like Fox News creating controversy to keep from sinking lower in the news ratings.

From Denny: Fox News has been on a desperate mission to pump up their news ratings as they are an abysmal last, trailing far behind the big networks. So, what to do? Well, start spouting racist garbage in an effort to galvanize what's left of their crazed base before they get exiled to retirement homes as far away from their kids as their kids can send them.

Stewart enjoys demonstrating to Fox News opining pundits just how contradictory they truly are by pulling their own news clips. Ridiculous is as ridiculous does. Stewart visited the bizarre debate in this country about the planned mosque building that is near not on Ground Zero.

Of course, Stewart's favorite to lampoon is really odd Glenn Beck who worries about Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man spearheading the project: "We don't know what he's planning to do in that cultural center." Roll tape and there is Imam Rauf actually sitting on the Fox News couch saying the same thing.

Stewart turns to British comic John Oliver to get his take on the controversial construction. Oliver pointed out that it's not a question of "right" or "wrong," but of "can" and "should." For example, "You can build a Catholic church next to a playground - but should you?"

*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

From Denny: Just when you think Colbert can't get any more outrageous, well, here he is with his usual grinning ridiculous. He does so love to lampoon any sacred cow a society even thinks it might get to venerate. In this case that's the Republican conservative idea of marriage is only meant for men and women, not men and men or women and women.

So, what does a self-respecting comic do with controversial taboo subjects in a culture? Why lampoon them from every angle, like the newly legalized gay marriage laws in Canada and Mexico.

America is still struggling with the notion of affording gays full human status. It is amazing how less than one percent of the population can actually be a wedge issue politically but the Republicans keep beating the drum to keep their base engaged. That base has now dwindled down to the range of 17 to 20 percent of the country, from a high of 48 percent.

"Invasion Of The Country Snatchers," is where Colbert lays out his concerns about the "invasion" of our country by immigrants, saying "This land has not seen this big a foreign invasion since the May Flower landed."

However, Colbert admitted he's "more concerned about our own gay citizens fleeing to Mexico or Canada where gay marriage is legal. This makes America the straight meat in a big, gay sandwich." Such is the funny Colbert logic.

Colbert asks: "Who will we turn to when we need a second class group of citizens to marginalize? This mosque thing isn't going to last forever."

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*** Leave it to Jon Stewart to ferret out the campiest PSA done on bedbugs.

From Denny: This is a video clip of the segment called "Bed Bug & Beyond" from The Daily Show and Jon Stewart. Talk about strange. Famous Italian actress, Isabella Rossellini, stars in an avant-garde PSA that teaches us about the bed bug infestation. This PSA actually discusses bed bug sexual anatomy and fertility. Yeah, that's right. I told you this crazy video was campy.

*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

From Denny: I tell ya, this summer heat index of 116 degrees Fahrenheit, along with the WikiLeaks nutjob child who thinks he's stalking me on this blog, you know it's a full moon out tonight. This poor kid has scrambled eggs for brains, taking a second and third run at me.

Guess it's time to go ahead and do another WikiLeaks post to explain to him and his silly little friends living in some gaming fantasy world in their heads that real life is not a computer game. It's much more serious because the people who are stalking them are out for a lot more than winning their props as a gamer.

As far as posts go I did manage to find some interesting health and science news and had some fun with some photo posts too. Take a look.

Poetess Defies, Shocks Saudi Arabia - A brave woman in the Middle East dares to criticize her religion and her culture - through a live TV national poetry competition, the Arab world version of American Idol.

Roundup of Late Night Funnies - 16 Aug 2010 - Check out this week's funny late night jokes and latest cartoons lampooning politics to American culture, with a funny side dish of funny video clips thrown in to keep you grinning.

*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** BP continues to play the shell game of moving the pea with misdirection and sleight of hand, with the definition of "legitimate claims" an elusive target to hit for residents.

The BP Claims Fund

From Denny: Remember that sweet deal the President made with BP about setting up the $20 billion claims fund? Everyone in America thought it was great and people would get compensated. Finally, we all could start rebuilding and move past this huge environmental disaster.

Then, a snag: Oh, by the way, BP never funded the claims fund in the first place. So, out comes the claims administrator, Kenneth Feinberg, begging BP in public to fund the claims so the checks he writes would not bounce. Then, no word on that front from BP or the government.

Latest changing definition of eligibility

Now, the latest in the long stalling tactic from BP is yet another insult to everyone's intelligence: suddenly new application guidelines appear on the horizon. The new rule is that if you live within one mile of the shore you are the only ones who will get compensated. Are they crazy?

This disaster has impacted all the way up the coast in Louisiana to Baton Rouge (capital city of the state), hundreds of miles away, where many businesses here supply the oil industry. In fact, many Baton Rouge residents work on the oil rigs - gone for weeks at a time. These guys commute, folks, hundreds of miles to work - yet they don't qualify for compensation???

Obama's oil moratoriums killed what was left of the Gulf coast economy

When President Obama enacted his first and then second oil moratorium the economy in Louisiana has now come to a standstill. Everyone is trying to keep treading the financial waters - and a lot of businesses have already gone under in this state. Now BP claims they won't process claims from any of these people who live beyond a mile from the shore?

Ken Feinberg hopes to bring sanity and decency to the process when he takes over the claims process

Ken Feinberg, a Washington lawyer, takes over BP's Gulf Coast Claims Facility on Monday morning. He has been down here on the Gulf talking to residents and explaining the process. While people in this area can understand there are greedy opportunists across America claiming how they are hurt by this oil spill and you want to weed them out - why is the government and BP denying the truly legitimate claims?

"If you have documented your claim, you will be paid in 48 hours," Feinberg said at a public meeting Friday. That's the rub. BP keeps changing the definition of proper documentation.

Feinberg works to get out payments while Republicans in Congress sit on their hands refusing to help small businesses

Feinberg says he hopes to process individual claims within 48 hours and then the business claims within seven days. These people have already been waiting since April 22. Just how long do you think those small businesses can hold on? The Republicans have held up the legislation in Congress to help small businesses rebuild. The Democrats have yet to get this bill passed. Now that waits until September when Congress comes back to Washington after enjoying their vacations - while 20 million Americans are now foreclosed upon and homeless, out of work and desperate.

Feinberg faces a daunting task once he gets past the immediate necessity payments. He will have to assign some kind of dollar value to the damages which could exist for years to come. Feinberg has received claims from 48 states, far away from the Gulf coast and downright suspect of how much they were affected by the oil spill.

Who actually does qualify for immediate payments?

BP is calling the latest changing definition of "legitimate claims" as "emergency claims." People who live within a mile of the shore and make their living on the water are the only ones to qualify as eligible:

fishermen
shrimpers
oystermen
crabbers

Who will never get paid for a claim?

Remember all those businesses on the various Gulf coast beaches - like restaurants, hotels and small shops that lost tourism business? None of them are eligible to be compensated, not now or ever.

So, what's the good news now that Feinberg is taking over come Monday morning? He's getting rid of the BP claims workers who have lied to and harassed the claimants and replacing them with newly trained workers. That's a great start as their newly stated goal is to process claims efficiently, quickly and finally start answering questions when asked. All 35 offices will remain open.

What does a claimant give up when accepting some payment?

Some of the sticking points for receiving those payments? Claimants can receive from one to six month's worth of compensation without having to give up their right to sue. However, if you do file for and receive a lump sum payment later in the year they have to give up their right to sue. Feinberg still has not settled upon whether giving up their rights to litigate will involve only BP or will include the other companies like Transocean involved in the oil spill.

Feinberg's wants refiling of previous claims not yet paid

Now that Feinberg has taken over he is requiring everyone who has already filed a claim to file yet a new claim, though without resubmitting previous documentation. The reason for that? BP did a lousy job of keeping up with the paperwork. There were people who never filed claims yet received claim numbers. How did that happen?

Currently, BP "claims" they have already paid out $374 million in claims. Yeah? I'd like to see that paperwork since they can't seem to document anything else well.

BP is also making the "claim" that if the $20 billion fund runs out they will still continue to pay "legitimate claims." Their words are as hollow as ever to the people on the Gulf coast.

Gulf coast residents unhappy with the latest new rules imposed upon them

"The word 'happy' is not in the dictionary," said Feinberg. "Nobody can be expected to be happy. These citizens have suffered a great harm. Few will consider themselves happy over this."

*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

21 August 2010

*** This week's political opinion delivered through the national cartoonists.

From Denny: Collecting these cartoons every week really demonstrates the national mindset on an issue. I post the pros and the cons from the cartoonists - unless the opinion expressed is an obvious lie of propaganda manipulation or just plain hate. An honest opinion is acceptable even if a negative one.

In the end, opinion is contingent upon all the facts getting delivered. Much of what passes for opinion in America is actually manufactured by political strategists working overtime to confuse Americans away from solving the problems in this great country. For, if Americans quit fighting each other - like over this wedge issue of the mosque building near not on Ground Zero in New York City - we would clearly see who is manipulating us against ourselves and what they have to gain by doing so.

So, people like me plod on trying to get the weak minds in this country to stop screaming long enough to see how they are being manipulated against their own best interests. I'll let you know when - if ever - we get a "break through" in the uphill process. :)

As to the Iraq War supposedly is over, well, it sure does not look like it. Just because 50,000 or so combat troops were pulled out and sent over to Afghanistan doesn't look like mission accomplished. It is simply not convincing when generals go before the media cameras to announce how they will be ready to rush back into Iraq if the Iraqis botch their own security.

Either we are in or we are out, make a decision, Mr. President and stick to one side of the decision line. It's this kind of continual "hedging your bets" that Democrats do in public that hurts our party with the American people, making us easy targets for the Republican strategists to strike a bulls eye.

This ambivalence is unacceptable. It's this constant wavering and uncertainty that has all of America so uncomfortable in the first place: the economy, jobs, excessively high unemployment to the tune of 20 percent in some large cities and now this war that is only "half over." The only way for leaders to calm a large country in chaotic times is to be definite, be certain and act decisively.

Economy and Politics of Voting:

House Ethics issues never die for both sides of the aisle because politicians only think of themselves instead of the good of their party and the good of America:

Prosecuting slippery politicians is just that - slippery:

The ongoing Afghan War and the "maybe we're done but maybe we're not" Iraq War:

The terrible flooding in Pakistan is the most effective, sadly, to change hearts and minds:

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*** News, intelligent politics, American and world politics, common sense political opinion with humor, original poems from a (female) Social Issues Poet (SIP), funny quotes that make you think. *** Email : warriorspearl@gmail.com.

*** Join me for coffee and on Google Friend Connect too! - Denny Lyon, a Louisiana liberal blogger (yes, there is such a political animal in Republican country), writing on the right side of sanity, pushing our government to give us their very best and nothing less.

About Me

Bored with homogenized journalism? Yeah, me too which is why I started all my blogs. Deep thinking of the news and how it affects our lives along with lots of humor posts and much more from my 24 blogs. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. Sit back, relax, get informed, cook a little and laugh a lot: http://dennysnews2.blogspot.com - where all the blogs link so you can peruse for your interests.

I'm a hybrid journalist-blogger which befuddles the publishing and journalism industries that are in serious flux these days - OK, the publishing houses have been melting down. What is not to understand? Time to rock on and catch up with the fast moving times. Hmmm... maybe I have Tiger or Dragon blood after all. :)

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Writing eclectic interests on world news, American politics, great simple food and recipes, chocolate as the other food group, throw up some of my art, poetry,
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Enjoy all kinds of people from the most artistic to those who think themselves not creative but have just not yet unlocked it.

Yes, I LOVE people, even the annoying ones though no one ever said they would be immune from hearing from me about said bad attitude. :)

Keep the Joy in your heart and it will get you through anything that gets in your way in Life - a tried and true life philosophy from those who know from experience there will always be obstacles in Life. Your will must develop to be stronger and sweep aside, leap over, walk around or just plain spit on those obstacles. Hey, whatever works, right?

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The names "The Social Poets" and "Denny Lyon" and "From Denny" are copyrighted as are all photos, including family photos, text, posts and articles by Denny Lyon. Articles, posts and photos by other people are copyrighted only by them - and do not fall under copyright on this blog or Google. Copyright 2008 - 2050 of The Social Poets by Denny Lyon. All Rights Reserved. I plan on being around for a very long time. :)